Why You Must Have Faith

Mary McLeod Bethune said it best when she said, “Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.” Unmistakably, faith is needed when your patience comes to an end and things are not going the way you want them to. Wonderful faith will keep you strong in the face of fear and when you grow tired and weary.

Still, one may ask or want to know “what exactly is faith?” According to the Word of God, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the essence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1

The dictionary, on the other hand, defines faith as “1) confidence or trust in a person or thing; 2) belief that is not based on proof; 3) belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion; 4) belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty; or 5) the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.

The faith that I wish to address today is the faith in the bible. I do not know why, but I believe God has chosen me to tell the world about His love, saving grace, and mercy. Therefore, I speak life and I speak truth. Faith is powerful. It is so effectual that your intellect cannot grasp the possibilities that lay deep down within you. With faith, in your heart you can accept what is not true (accept your reality as it is) and know that it is all working in your favor (even when it doesn’t look like it is). Faith causes to you believe that the end result will be in your favor no matter what the situation looks like. The mind, howbeit, needs visual confirmation to match what you know in your heart. Put another way, the intellect needs reality to match what the heart is telling you. Faith does not require your reality to match your hopes and dreams. This is why you have faith in the first place.

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” – J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

Now, the heart must be telling you what is in agreement with what God says for faith to work. God does not fulfill wicked desires. Desires that are righteous, justified, and sincere are granted when you trust, believe, and have patience. The road may seem long, but when you let go you give power to the universe to solve your problems. By the same token, letting go of your situation and trusting that what is best for you will happen is not always easy. Personally, I have had to try and fail several times before turning over certain situations to God. Once I finally let go and left things to work themselves out, I was more at peace and more able to focus on other areas of my life. And yes, in the end, the result was for my good. I have come to be a happier person and there is not much that can get me down and keep me down. “God is able!” I have discovered my passion to help people and am no longer looking back. I guess one might say “I am stronger and wiser than I was before.” To emphasize, I have no regrets and am thankful for every experience that has gotten me to where I am in life today. It all has truly been for my good. This may sound like a cliché, but it is still my truth...“I’m not what I want to be, but neither am I what I used to be.” And yet I still have some growing to do. Nonetheless, I thank God I have had an awakening experience. “I am better than I was before and the best is still yet to come.” Being open to allow the universe to guide you and teach you will make you comparable to fine wine. You will get better with time.

“Desire, ask, believe, receive.” – Stella Terrill Mann

Whatever you want in life can be achieved with the power of faith. There will always be obstacles blocking your path, problems to solve, and adversity to overcome. What you believe is what you will get. If you think you can, you will push yourself to take the necessary steps to help you achieve your goals. Let your goals be exciting enough that they inspire passion and creativity in you. If you think you cannot, then you will not be motivated; and you will never take any action to move you toward your goal. Faith requires action. Furthermore, for your dreams to come true you also have to work hard and make sacrifices. By all means successful dreams require faith, ambition, hope, commitment, hard work, dedication, knowledge, and experience.

“Success is a product of good judgment, and good judgment is a product of experience.” – Mike Lickteig

“If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory.” – William Hazlitt (1778-1830)

“Faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.” – Joni Erickson Tada

In like manner, do not continue to live in the past when everything around you is changing. Nothing stays the same. Every creation is the result of someone’s thought. From the clothes you wear to the car you drive or the tools and equipment you use, it all was somebody’s idea before it came to life. Think outside the box. There is not only one way of doing anything. Whatever your dream may be, never let anybody tell you it is impossible. Your idea may very well be the best thing yet contributed to society. Keep the faith. Identify yourself with values and principles that people can respect. It’s not that you have anything to prove to anyone, but you have a duty to live up to the excellence God placed within you. Your faith is your inner sense of truth. No man can fully comprehend or express the spiritual and divine powers that lie dormant in humans. But, faith pushes the spirit to be strengthened and developed to establish the will. Just like God himself, the spirit of man is eternal. Nothing is impossible to the man who understands the spiritual and divine powers within. Your achievements, success, and your way of living depend on the power of your faith.

“Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.” – Rabindranath Tagore

In the final analysis, true happiness and success are determined by the way you meet the difficulties of life. Do not let your troubles become so unbearable that you lose all hope and become filled with despair. God does not intend for you to never rise again when you fail. Grow stronger and get better when adversity, obstacles, and failure come knocking at your door. Difficulties are inevitable. Do not run from the difficulties you face. Work your faith and live each moment in the present. “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” As soon as you stop worrying, things will start happening for you. Learn to exercise your faith daily and when in doubt, take the leap of faith. Surely, you will not be dismayed. Faith is greater than despair!

“He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20

“You don’t have any problems, all you need is faith.” – Bishop Larry D. Trotter

God will supply your every need. “I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong... I asked for patience and God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.”

Living in the victory,

Kai